Pair of Belle Klipsh in walnut for $500 and change
at an auction house! Early 2000's and who wants these behemoths in their house?! In rural Hawaii, no one even knew what they were.
One guy drove from the other side of the island to bid. He got the K-horns for a similar price as I ran out of $ at about $550. Oh, I also got a pair of fixerup Mcintosh Mc2300's for $75. Never finished them but got one running for a while. |
Yamamoto a08s power amp.
Line magnetic 518 integrated amp
line magnetic 515 CD player/dac. |
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A Sony XA5400ES CD/SACD player I bought as a close out direct from Sony with a 2 year extended warranty for $400. Was $1600 new and a raved Stereophile component.
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Just bought one of the last refurb/closeout pairs of Gallo CL3's. Un-freaking-believable for the $650 shipped I paid. Holographic imaging, wide dispersion tweeters, super detailed yet musical and bass down to 30hz. Crazy deal. |
Back in the mid-1980's, when I was first learning the audiophile equipment ropes, I needed an amp. So many choices, most of them crazy expensive; others seemed to push unrealistically high output power ratings for cheap money (that didn't appeal either). One of the big audio magazines gave an extremely favorable review to the new Adcom amp--handsome black thing, heavy, 200 wpc. I bought it (think list price was $500 or $600...not cheap money then).
Well, it was pretty good. Surprisingly good, in fact. 1-2 yrs later, after upgrading my preamp and main power amps to all-tube designs (used), I took a chance and had the Adcom modded by a company then earning great reviews for doing that w/various mfrs' gear (forget the name). Think the mod was ~$200.
Got the Adcom back, put it in the system, and damned if the bass (already pretty good) had become astoundingly good! That was perfect for me, because what I used this amp for after that was driving the subs built into my big Vandersteen 4 speakers.
That Adcom was my first "high end" purchase, and it worked out from day-1 to the day I sold it to a friend (and regretted it later!).
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My Snell Type B's. Used at $766.00 I heard a pair of $38,000 Magico's the other day. I preferred my Snells! Joe |
LFD LE V+ integrated amplifier. About $4K, better than almost anything I've ever heard, regardless of price. The original B&W Nautilus 805's, which can be had for about $1000 - $1500 now also qualify, if you can find a decent pair. I auditioned the new Diamond 805's and didn't like them nearly as much as my originals.
I also love the AR Ref 75 amplifier (in both amp only and integrated amp forms) but I think these don't qualify as "stupid good for the money". They're expensive for a reason. The PS Audio DirectStream DAC is amazing but also isn't cheap. Maybe the Junior version? |
Don't make fun of me but the best audio money I have ever spent was for a store return JVC RX-302 I bought 27 years ago for $40 that I have used to power my garage audio system, I use compressed air to blow the dust off every year and it keeps on ticking. I scratch build RC model aircraft and spend a lot of time in the garage. This thing should have died decades ago! |
Oppo UDP-203 Blu Ray player.
I read the reviews and was wondering - how good could it be? Well - it is. Beautiful sound on CDs and SACDs, not as harsh as my previous middle of the road SONY player. Fast operation and load times on Blu Rays and DVDs. Solid build quality and beautiful very basic design.
A true audiophile performer for $550.
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"I don't like vinyl (grew up with it). I have never had a good audio system, and I am 60 yr-old medical school professor.
"
So Gerry, what component of your listed system is stupid good? You really didn't answer the question. Not that it is important but why is it important to tell us your profession?
To me in my audio life it is a very simple question to answer but it dates back to the mid 80's, The
Vandersteen 2C speakers for sure. Relative to everything I listened to and compared to at the time, many at multiple times the price, it was and may still likely be among the most "stupid good for the money" products I've ever experienced in this hobby. Timeless value.
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The Dragonfly Black USB DAC that I paid something like $98.00 for is amazing. That's value. |
For me, Klipsch Epic CF-4 speakers. $1000.00 used. |
My Mapletree Audio 2A/SE preamp (6SN7/12SN7, tube rectified, custom gains per input). Upgraded version (Blackgate caps), new, was less than $1k. Have had it for years and have no intention of swapping it out. Terrific value (and sound). The stupidest goodest gear for the money in my setup by far. |
Dr. Jerry you and I have much in common, but not the gear. The Stupid good for the money is my favorite pre the AE-3 by AES a sub brand of Cary . Cost me $350 used. I have tubes (each) that cost close to that I put in it. |
Audio Research VT-80, rare combination of pure musical bliss and pleasing aesthetics.
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Highly flawed and highly dated, but the original stacked
Advents.
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Fully restored Gale GS401A speakers. To me they not only sound incredible they also look incredible. Not bad for only $1,500 including shipping from David Smith at Vintage Gale in the UK. |
A little voice is telling me Wilson Watt Puppy 7s don't really fit into the category of Stupid Good for the Money.
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I don't like vinyl (grew up with it). I have never had a good audio system, and I am 60 yr-old medical school professor. Here is my system:
Wilson WattPuppy 7 speakers;
McIntosh 275 amp;
New version of the McIntosh C22 preamp;
MCT450 CD player;
D150 preamp that can accomadate any file format (downloads, SACD, upsamples redbook, etc).
I had listened to the PS Audio Directstream combination of player and DAC, the Dytek Manhattan II DAC (MQA) and the Marantz SA-10, but the all-McIntosh system with the Wilson speakers just blew my mind. But I am of the 60's generation-still the sound is unbelievable - even my best friend who has 2 warehouses of vintage audio hardware could not believe the sound. FWIW - Gerry |
